Gilad Sharon has not left the hospital

None of Sharon's grandchildren have yet been to visit their grandfather.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
omri at hospital 298 (photo credit: AP)
omri at hospital 298
(photo credit: AP)
Gilad Sharon, the younger of the prime minister's two sons, has not left Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Hospital in Ein Kerem since his father was hospitalized just over a week ago, a source within the Prime Minister's Office told The Jerusalem Post. Omri Sharon, the prime minister's older son, had been in and out of the hospital complex a few times, but not very often, the source added. None of the Sharon grandchildren, all of whom are quite young, have yet been to visit their grandfather. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sister Dita, who lives in the US, has been in touch with the family but has not yet decided whether to come home for a visit. So far, according to the source in the Prime Minister's Office, other than medical staff, only members of the Sharon family and employees from the Prime Minister's Office have been permitted to come to the hospital's seventh floor that has been put off limits to the general public. There have been a few exceptions - rabbis who have prayed at Sharon's bedside, and a young haredi boy from Bat Yam who had a dream about Sharon's recovery, and asked to be allowed to pray for him in the anteroom outside Sharon's bedroom. The Sharon family, according to the source, have complete faith in the hospital and the doctors and do not in any way interfere with hospital statements issued to the media. Meanwhile, President Moshe Katsav on Wednesday told Beit Hanassi reporters that the massive outpouring of affection and concern for Sharon during his time of tribulation was heartwarming. Katsav said he was heartened not only by the general reaction of the nation to the prime minister's condition but also to the realization that the country was nonetheless in good hands. The fact that there had been no ructions in the aftermath of Sharon's illness, said Katsav, was a demonstration of the public's confidence that the country was running well. Asked his opinion on electioneering while the prime minister was still so seriously ill, Katsav said that he would hope that the various parties would exercise restraint at all times and conduct election campaigns that were free of negativism and irrelevancies - but especially so during the prime minister's hospitalization.